Sheet coating machine



March 1 1941.1v J. c. HOLD-GATE :rAL 5, I

saw comma uacumx Filed Dec. 12, 19:9 SSheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS we'd? March 18, 1941.

HOLDGATE EIAL SHEET COATING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1939 MN, a

Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE snnn'r COATING momma John C. Holdgate, Carl Koelkebeck, and William P. Donald, Warren, Ohio, assignors to The Wean Engineering Company, Inc Warren, Ohio, a

' corporation of Ohio This invention relates to sheet coating machines and, in particular, to the driving mechanism therefor.

Sheet coating machines, such as galvanizing machines, as usually constructed comprise a frame having therein feed rolls and guides, the frame being disposable in a pot of molten metal such as lead or zinc for passing sheets therethrough. The feed rolls are ordinarily actuated by a motor drive at one side of the pot. The exit or. finishing feed rolls of the galvanizing machine must be changed frequently, 1. e., at least once every eight hours and sometimes even more frequently. For this purpose, the base supporting the motors which actuate the rolls through gear drives must be moved away from the pot.

After the rolls have been changed, the base is again advanced so that the gear connections are re-established.

A conventional form of drive for the bottom feed rolls of a galvanizing machine includes a substantially vertical shaft having a bevel gear on the upper end thereof and a worm on the lower end meshing with aworm wheel secured to one of the bottom rolls. The bevel gear is driven by a cooperating gear' actuated by a motor through a speed-reducer. It is not unusual for the bevel gears to be chewed out after an hour's operation, because they are not properly alined.

The galvanizing machine is movable on the pot and has heretofore been alined with the drive by eye. It is difficult to secure accurate alinement in this manner and even though the greatest care is exercised, there may be sufficient misalinement '35 to cause excessive wear on the gears, involving frequent replacements. Provision is usually made for adjustment of the worm end of the vertical drive shaft toward the worm wheel by means of a wedge, to take up wear in the bear:

(0 lugs, and this also tends to throw the bevel gears out of alinement, aggravating the condition above-mentioned. This condition is highly objeotionable because of the. loss involved in shutting down a machine for the purpose of replacgg ing wornout gears, to say nothing of the actual cost'of the gears themselves, Considerable time is lost, furthermore, in an attempt to line up the bevel gears of the drive and; as stated, 'despite the greatest care, accurate alinement is rarely, 50 if ever, obtained.

' We-have invented a novel form of drive for sheet coating machines such as galvanizing. ma-

chines which avoids the aforementioned ob;Iec--- tions and makes it possible to aline the bevel F gears accurately and quickly, thereby preventing any excessive wear which might result from slight misalinement. The invention also permit angular movement of the vertical drive shaft as required in taking up the-wear on the bearing for the lower end of the shaft, without disturbingthe 5 alinement of the driving gears.

In a preferred form the invention comprises a bearing hanger in which the upper end of the drive shaft is journaled, the hanger being pivoted to a support on the machine frame. A cooperatm ing socket and pin on the machine and motor drive respectively are effective when the drive is advanced to cause meshing of the bevel gears, to accurately line up the pivotal axis of the bearing bracket with the axis of the driving gear. Such 15 preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be fully described herebelow with reference there to. In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a partial plan view showing a portion of a galvanizing machine and its motor drive;

Fig. 2 is a view partly 'in section along the line II-II of Fig. 1, showing the galvanizing machine in elevation in the spelter pot;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation taken along the 25 plane of line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a partial elevation showing a portion of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2 to enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same structure so taken at right angles to the latter; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a pot Ill adapted to contain molten zinc or spelter is provided with a galvanizing machine II. The machine ll comprises generally a pair of spaced side plates l2 connected by tie rods l3.- Entering feed rolls l4, bottom feed rolls l5-and exit rolls I6 are journaled in suitable bearings securedto the frame in a conventional manner and cooperate with guides ll, l8, l9 and 20 to pass sheets successively into .th'e zinc bath and upwardly therefrom. The rolls l4 and iii are driven inany usual or convenient manner.

The bottom rolls I! are driven by a substantially vertical shaft 2!, the upper end of which is joumaled in a bearing' hanger 22 and is proment with the worm wheel by a bearing block 28 adjustable in a housing 29 secured to the side plate, by a wedge 30 adjustable vertically in the housing by means of a verticalslide rod 3|, the upper end of which terminates in a threaded stud and adjusting nuts 32'.

Referring now more particularlyto Figs. 1 and 3, the drive for the bottom roll l5 includes a motor 33, a speed-reducer 34 and a bevel gear 35 keyed on the low-speed shaft of the reducer 34. This shaft has an outboard bearing 36. The motor 33, reducer 34 and bearing 36 are mounted on a base plate 31 slidable laterally of the pot II] on ways 38 and 38 formed in a bed plate 39, to permit retraction of the drive for roll-changing. The plate 31 may be secured in adjusted position on the plate 39 by bolts 40 extending upwardly through slots 5|.

A socket 42 is formed on the outer side of the bracket 25 and is adapted to receive a guide pin or stud 43 projecting from the base plate 3?. The axes of the socket and pin are so disposed that when the pin enters the socket, the axis of the bevel gear 35 will coincide with the axis of the pivot bearing 26 on the bracket 25 and the bevel gear 35 will mesh properly with the pinion 23. The base plate 31 can move only along the guides 38. If the galvanizing machine frame should be positioned on the pot it so that the pin 43 cannot enter the socket 412, the machine is adjusted in the pot until the socket is accurately centered with the pin. Then when the base plate 31 is advanced toward the pot, e. g., after changing rolls, accurate alinement of the bevel gears is assured. If the initial misalinement is relatively slight, the entrance of the pin 33 into the socket 42 may be suificient to effect the desired adjustment of the machine on the pot, the end of the socket and pin being tapered for a short distance to facilitate entry of the latter into the former.

As previously stated, with the pin 43 in the socket 42, the axis of the gear 35 coincides with the axis of the pivot 25 on which the hanger 22 is supported for angular movement. Such movement of the shaft 2! as may be necessary to in sure proper engagement of the worm 26 with the worm wheel 21 does not, therefore, affect the meshing of the gears since the pinion 23 will be in proper cooperative position with respect to the gear 35, in any position to which it may be rotated about the axis of the pivot 24 as a center.

The advantages of the invention will be readily apparent. In the first place, it effects a great saving of time in re-alining the bevel gears after a separation of the drive from the machine for the purpose of roll changing; In the second place, since the bevel gears are always maintained in accurate alinement, the wear on the gears is greatly reduced and replacements thereof are minimized. Both these advantages permit an increased output from the machine, thereby lowering the unit cost of the product and the cost of maintaining the machine.

While the invention has been described as applied specifically to a galvanizing machine, it may also be applied to other sheet coating apparatus such as terne coating machines-orthe like.

Although we have illustrated and described but a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a sheet coating machine including a frame and bottom rolls iournaled therein, means for driving said rolls comprising a bevel gear movable laterally of the machine, a shaft ex-- tending downwardly from the upper portion of the frame, a bearing hanger in which the upper portion of the shaft is journaled, means on said frame providing a support for said hanger, and a bevel pinion on said shaft exposed for driving engagement by said bevel gear, said hanger being pivoted to said last-mentioned means about an axis coincident with that of said gear.

2. In a sheet coating machine having a frame and bottom rolls journaled therein, means for driving said rolls comprising a bevel gear movable laterally with respect to said machine, means on said frame providing a support, a bearing hanger pivoted on said support, a downwardly extending shaft journeled in said hanger, a pinion on said shaft adapted to mesh with said bevel gear, means whereby said shaft drives said rolls, and cooperating means fixed relative to said bevel gear and said frame respectively, for alining the pivotal axis of said hanger with the axis of the bevel gear 'as the latter is moved toward the machine.

3. In a galvanizing machine including a frame and bottom rolls journaled therein, means for driving said rolls comprising a bevel gear movable laterally of the frame, a shaft extending downwardly from the upper portion of the frame, a bearing hanger in which theupper portion of the shaft is 'iournaied, means mounting said hanger for pivotal movement about the axis of said gear and a bevel pinion on said shaft exposed for driving engagement by said gear.

4. In a galvanizing machine including a frame and bottom rolls journaled therein, means for driving said rolls comprising a shaft extending downwardly from the upper portion of the frame, a bearing hanger in which the upper portion of the shaft is journaled, means mounting said hanger for pivotal movement, a driven bevel pinion on said shaft, a driving bevel pinion adapted to mesh therewith to drive said shaft, means mounting said driving pinion for movement to and from the driven pinion, and means fixed relative to said frame and driving pinion, respectively, for alining the pivotal axis of said hanger with the axis of said driving pinion as the latter approaches the driven pinion.

5. In a sheet coating machine including a frame and bottom rolls journaled therein, means for driving said rolls comprising, a bevel gear movable laterally of the machine, a shaft ex-' tending downwardly from the upper portion of 

